This essay compares and contrasts the parallel careers of two of the Victorian era's most influential collectors of Japanese art, Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826-97) and James Lord Bowes (1834-1899)

The subject of this essay is Basil William Robinson, who became an expert on Japanese swords and helped to inspire interest in the Japanese sword and associated art and crafts.

This essay details the military career of Francis Festing (1912-76), along with his hobby as a connoisseur of Japanese swords and acts of reconcilliation.